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Friday, November 1, 2013

Blogging is tough to do on the road. I'm using the mobile app for Google Blogger to create this post, so I apologize in advance for any grammatical errors or visual yuckiness due to the limitations in using this platform.

Kauai has been amazing. We're two days in and Kyle and I have a lot to explore. We arrived early yesterday, eagerly awaiting the next six days in heavenly paradise. The moment we landed and stepped off the plane, Kyle marveled at the scenery and said, "I just want to paint!" I laughed said a heartfelt "aww". It is certainly inspiring to be here in Kauai. There is so much beauty before you it's hard not to have that immediate jaw-dropping reaction.

The first day went by quickly as we spent most of the time getting our bearings and acclimating to our hotel and visitng nearby locales, mostly south Kauai like Poipu and Old Town Koloa. We had a big excursion the next day, going on a catamaran tour to Na Pali and snorkeling, and so we strategized about how we would handle our biggest fear. Sharks. I suggested the following:

1. Don't be the slowest swimmer in the group

2. Make like a log (you know, lie there and float)

3. Then I decided making like poop would be better. Everyone swims away from poop

A bottle of champaign and whiskey later, it became the evenings' ongoing joke. Make like poop. Suddenly, I'm making like poop all the time, and every other variation you can think of. We're heading back to the room after an evening in the spa and I've got to make like "a" poop the second we're back in the room. I swear I'm twenty-eight. Most days.

I'm happy to say that I didn't have to make like poop, or employ any other shark escape strategy during today's snorkeling adventure. I did however, nearly hurl my entire breakfast over the side of the boat. I managed to make it the bathroom in time to discreetly express just how seasick I was. I blame it on the saltwater. I gulped a few times on accident, because you know: fins, snorkeling gear, and a life-jacket just weren't enough to prevent me from maybe drowning. So there I sat for the next three hours trying to escape the inescapable feeling of losing (my mind?) all the pretzels and the can of soda I'd drank trying to settle my stomach. I sat at the back of the boat where all the sick ones were advised to stay. Except I was the only one. Kyle kept me company but I was pissed. I couldn't get over why I was the only one sick. I grumbled at Kyle, asking, "Seriously? No one else is sick?? Lame." I gave the bouncing seven year old kid who was smiling all un-seasick-like snapping photos with his mom, enjoying his sandwich while I sat there completely immobilized else my breakfast, pineapple, and saltwater filled with fish poop would come back up. And to top it off, I scraped my knee on the boat and didn't realize I had been snorkeling in the open waters with a bloody leg...No amount of making like poop would've saved me from a shark.

Overall, the excursion was a blast. Sad to say I've verified that I am not secretly a mermaid. Maybe more like a mini whale...

We had dinner at the Oasis Beach Restaurant. It was some of the best food we've ever had!

Also, happy to announce that the faculty at Big Sur Writing Workshop have reviewed my writing submission for Violet Storm and notified me that I've been accepted into the workshop in December. Woohoo!

More adventures to come, we'll keep you posted. Hope everyone had a fun and safe Halloween! We miss you!

Weather has been amazing here!

We decided to go with Capt. Andy's for the catamaran tour to Na Pali

Time for a dip. I bought a Nikon Coolpix P330 for this trip - almost the quality of a DSLR but super compact, and got a DiCAPac case to make it waterproof.

Pre-seasick...or not

A brief glimpse of our view of the incredible Na Pali coast. Did you know that they filmed Jurassic Park, and parts of Pirates of the Carribean here (among other movies!)?

We got to see bottle nose dolphins and spinner (?) dolphins! We stumbled into three different pods. This photo is from the largest pod, with over twenty dolphins. We saw a few baby dolphins too!